Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., speaks with local leaders on the Federal Railroad Administration's Northeast Corridor plans on Thursday in Stamford. State Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker is at center.. less

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., speaks with local leaders on the Federal Railroad Administration's Northeast Corridor plans on Thursday in Stamford. State Department of Transportation Commissioner James ... more

Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker leads a roundtable discussion with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and local municipal leaders regarding the Federal Railroad ... more

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., listens to state Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker during a roundtable discussion with localleaders regarding the Federal Railroad Administration's Northeast Corridor plan inside Government Center in Stamford on Thursday. less

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., listens to state Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker during a roundtable discussion with localleaders regarding the Federal Railroad Administration's ... more

Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker leads a roundtable discussion with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (left), D-Conn., and local municipal leaders regarding the Federal Railroad ... more

Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker leads a roundtable discussion with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (left), D-Conn., and local municipal leaders regarding the Federal Railroad ... more

Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker leads a roundtable discussion with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (left), D-Conn., and local municipal leaders regarding the Federal Railroad ... more

Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker (center) shares a laugh with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., before beginning the discussion regarding the Federal Railroad ... more

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., listens to Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker during a roundtable discussion with local municipal leaders regarding the Federal Railroad ... more

Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker leads a roundtable discussion with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and local municipal leaders regarding the Federal Railroad ... more

STAMFORD — State Transportation Commission James P. Redeker had no shortage of grim news Thursday for about of a dozen local leaders and policymakers.

Long story short: There are far more transportation projects that need urgent attention than there is money to pay for them. And the long-term prospects are just as bad, Redeker said.

The meeting, at the Stamford Government Center, was led by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who didn’t have much cheer for the group, either.

“China spends about 10 percent of its gross national product on infrastructure,” Blumenthal said. “In Europe that figure is about 5 percent. But here in the United States it’s less than 2 percent. Sadly, very few people in Washington are focusing on transportation. We will leave our children a lesser America.”

The meeting was called by Let’s Go CT — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s transportation “call to action,” a 30-year vision to improve the state’s transportation system.

Just one of Redeker’s headaches is the infamous Walk Bridge, the movable Metro-North crossing that carries trains over the Norwalk River. Replacing it will be “the most complicated infrastructure project in the world,” he said, because the creaky, 121-year-old Iron Age span would have to be replaced while it remains operational.

“The Tappan Zee Bridge is easy by comparison,” Redeker said. “There’s no place to do a run-around. It’s extraordinarily complicated. You have to build the bridge off-site and install it with two 96-hour shutdowns.”

Looking to Hartford, D.C.

It gets worse. Redeker said there are $100 billion in state transportation costs that have to be funded in the next 30 years and of that, only $2.8 billions seems to be forthcoming from Hartford.

After 2020, the Department of Transportation won’t be able to bond anymore because there won’t be enough in the state transportation fund. And in 2020, there will be — as things look now — a severe drop-off of federal transportation funds, too, he said.

There’s also an ongoing “state of good repair” plan for the Northeast Corridor that needs $35 billion — “but right now it has no funding,” Redeker said.

Some at the meeting complained of spending more than an hour in traffic on the 13-mile stretch of Interstate 95 between Westport and Stamford. Redeker said that there may be relief on the way — possible widening of I-95 by one lane in each direction “from boarder to boarder” — that is, from New York to Rhode Island.

“This widening, frankly, could eliminate congestion, if it is matched with the upgrades to the interchanges in Norwalk (for Route 7) and in Bridgeport (for Routes 8 and 25), Redeker said. “Congestion pricing (tolls based on the time of day) also manages the demand on the highway.”

He said the state is engaged in a $1 million study to look at the I-95 widening idea, combined with the congestion-pricing and tolls idea.

Redeker: No high-speed

On the good-news side, officials said all New Haven Line trains have automatic speed controls now, and that full Positive Train Control — which includes an automatic stop mechanism, will be in place by the end of 2018.

Darien First Selectman Jayme Stevenson said she was concerned about the possibility that new high-speed rail tracks would be built along I-95. Redeker said that would not happen.

“We’re not looking at any new rails,” he said. “We’re looking only to improve service within the right-of way that we now have — both with highways and with rail,” he said.

But Blumenthal suggested it might be better to upgrade rail service rather than widening I-95.

“Better rail service will take more people off the highway,” he said.

Stamford Mayor David Martin suggested that spending should be based on a cost/benefit analysis.

“If we spend $60 billion to gain only 12 seconds, well, we need to re-think that,” Martin said. “But, if we can spend $6 million to gain, say, 12 minutes, well, that’s the direction we should take immediately.”

“The only thing that’s funded right now on the New Haven Line is a $3 million study to upgrade capacity and speed ,” Redeker. “The only thing — and that’s just a study.”